Weird fish are found in the waters along the Treasure Coast

See photos of some of the interesting creatures that inhabit Treasure Coast waters.

Karen Davison took this photo of a mantis shrimp her brother Ronald Maynard — who is blind — caught while visiting from Subury, Pennsylvania. They were fishing under the Seaway Drive bridge in Fort Pierce. Davison estimates the shrimp was about 12 inches long.

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This brown hoplo as it is believed to be, one of many species of armored catfish, was found floating dead in the St. Lucie River in March 2010 by Roberty Kaidy of Stuart of Ocean5 Naval Architects. (Photo provided by Robert Kaidy)

Bonefish, like this one caught by Capt. Charlie Conner of Fish Tales Guide Service in Fort Pierce can be caught in the Indian River Lagoon and along area beaches usually on baits fished on the bottom. Although similar to the sporty bonefish of the flats of the Florida Keys, the Treasure Coast bones are a subspecies called the deepwater bonefish. (Photo provided by Capt. Charlie Conner)

A lizardfish lies in the sand in this photo. The Treasure Coast inshore waters have many lizardfish that can be caught by anglers fishing with small baits and jigs.

The opossum pipefish is very unique in that it spends its juvenile days camouflaged in the Sargassum weeds of the great ocean blue. But once it reaches adulthood, it travels upstream to spend its mature days in nearly freshwater rivers such as the St Lucie River. A 2001 paper published with the American Fisheries Society evaluated the O. pipefish as being a threatened marine species due to habitat degradation and nearshore use of herbicides.

Beau Yeiser, a biologist with the Florida Fish & Wildlife Conservation Commission talks with onlookers about the 13-foot sawfish that was found dead in the St. Lucie River in June.

Chauncelor Howell of Port St. Lucie shows the 52-pound pacu he picked up Saturday along the shoreline at River Park in Port St. Lucie. The large fish, native of the Amazon River in South America, was killed by the recent cold weather. Had this fish been taken with rod and reel, it would have beaten the All Tackle World Record by 8 pounds.

Abigail Rivera hides her face as Rodney Smith of Anglers for Conservation shows her the Sea Robin she just reeled in during the 2nd Annual Hook Kids of Fishing program, which invited kids age 6-16 and their parents to attend clinics on casting, conservation, fishing safety, and knot tying from pro anglers from around the state on January 16, 2010 in Hobe Sound.

Ribbonfish like these, also called Atlantic cutlassfish, are as shiny-sided as aluminum foil and often used as dead trolling baits for species like large king mackerel. They can be caught on jigs in the St. Lucie River and Fort Pierce Inlet.

Alex Kuze photographed this squid after it was caught off the coast of Stuart. It was beleived to be between 23' and 28' long.

Mola mola are the sea's largest ocean-going bony fish reaching weights in excess of 1,000 pounds. Their larvae have been sampled in the Indian River Lagoon.

These lionfish were photographed recently on a reef in the Solomon Islands by Vero Beach diver Mike Ricciardi.

Stingray

A diver holds a barracuda.

(C) by SEA&SEA 2G USER

A dead porcupinefish lays on the beach at Treasure Shores Beach as a result of red tide in 2007.

Curiosity and fearlessness are two traits often exhibited by Goliath grouper when divers are nearby. This makes them highly susceptible to overfishing by spearfishermen and is one reason why they receive federal and state protection. photo by Mike Phelan

Cori McWilliams holds a fiddler crab that she found on a spoil island in the Indian River. Cori and her parents visited the island via jet ski.

Bull shark

Chimaeras are cartilaginous fish related to the sharks and rays, and are sometimes called ghost sharks or rabbitfishes. (Wikipedia)